Latest from Banking & Finance

A tour of Level39 from Eric Van der Kleij

Having spearheaded the government's early Tech City promotion, Eric Van der Kleij is using his entrepreneurial experience to produce the next wave of innovative financial technology businesses.

Payment options: iZettle eliminates the need for standard chip and pin devices

iZettle forms partnership with Banco Santander as part of €5 million investment

Mobile payments business iZettle has added to the list of venture capital backers it has by securing a new corporate investment partner in the form of Banco Santander.

Irish innovation: Dublin has encouraged a host of start-ups to set up in the city

Irish government sets aside €175 million to invest in fast-growth start-ups through venture capitalists

A new €175 million fund aimed at funding high-growth companies has been set up by the Irish government.

Money world: CCM and Encore Capital work in the consumer debt market

CCM bought by Encore Capital as UK debt management partner

Encore Capital has acquired a majority stake in Cabot Credit Management through a deal worth £128 million.

Capital pots: The number of cash shells in London is growing rapidly

London cash shells now hold £572.3 million for burgeoning businesses

The number of cash shells listed on London exchanges has grown from 64 to 91, the latest Cash Shells Directory finds.

Financial services: TransferWise has now handled £125 million of transfers

'PayPal Mafia Don' Peter Thiel leads funding round into Tech City start-up TransferWise

Skype's first employee has netted a $6 million (£3.9 million) investment from Valar Ventures, a venture capital firm set up by PayPal co-founder and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel, for his peer-to-peer money transfer business.

Crowd power: Members' club The Rushmore Group used Crowdcube in 2011

Crowdcube values itself at £7.1 million after ‘world record’ three-day fundraising

Crowdfunding platform Crowdcube has returned to its own service to secure additional capital for growth.

Anti theft: Cennox is seeing good traction with its ATM security products

Investment for business growth: Cennox

Back in June 2012, ATM services business Cennox became the Business Growth Fund's (BGF) 10th investment – at which point the company had already developed technology which was being used by the London cycle scheme to prevent card skimming.

GoCardless founders: (L-R) Tom Bloomfield, Matt Robinson and Hiroki Takeuchi

Passion Capital and Accel Partners back financial technology firm GoCardless for second time

GoCardless has added to the $1.5 million (£976,400) it secured in February 2012 by netting a further $3.3 million through a deal with Accel Partners and Passion Capital.

New tact: It's hoped the business bank will make access to capital easier for SMEs

First stage of Vince Cable’s business bank kicked off with initial £1 billion kitty

Business secretary Vince Cable has unveiled the first phase of the government's new business bank, its latest initiative to encourage lending to SMEs.

Capital aim: The tender is part of Boris Johnson's  Economic Development Strategy

London mayor Boris Johnson awards London venture capital fund tender to MMC Ventures

MMC Ventures has launched its MMC London Fund after winning a mandate from the Mayor of London and the European Regional Development Fund.

BVCA chairman: Simon Clark has set himself three distinctive goals

Simon Clark: Striving for easier fundraising and greater Euro engagement

Having spent a year shadowing former BVCA chairman Robert Easton, Fidelity Growth Partners’ Simon Clark is now stepping up to the role and has some ambitious targets.

Figures: 20,000 investors have provided 45 million in loans through auxmoney

Peer-to-peer lending service auxmoney attracts funding from Index Ventures

Index Ventures has teamed up with Union Square Ventures to provide $12 million (£8 million) of growth capital to peep-to-peer loan service auxmoney.

Growth plans: Younger management teams may find it hard to take up the reins

Lack of MBO cash could be problematic for business succession plans

Businesses hoping to pass on the mantle to management teams may have to look away from management buy-outs, new research suggests.

Finance figures: The Bank of England is hopeful for good 2013 numbers

Funding for Lending Scheme posts 'disappointing' figures for end of 2012

Financing through the Funding for Lending Scheme has dropped by £2.4 billion, figures for the fourth quarter of 2012 reveals.

Video: Twilio's Jeff Lawson outlines the new Twilio Fund Europe 2013

Jeff Lawson, CEO and co-founder of cloud communications business Twilio, meets with GrowthBusiness to explain the company's new micro fund for start-ups and why it is targeting Europe this time round.

Alcohol entrepreneur Alex Kammerling was one of the first on Crowdcube

Crowdcube moves past £5 million mark on back of FSA crowdfunding regulation

Crowdfunding platform Crowdcube has marked its second year of operation by moving past the £5 million fundraising mark.

New deals: Electra Partners has had a busy start to the year

Secondary funds acquisition for Electra as it ramps up bank assets activity

Electra Partners has snapped up a clutch of secondary private equity funds in a deal which it describes as a 'discount'.

Unusual inspiration: Ayan Mitra's CrowdBnk sprung from a fascination in eggs

CrowdBnk's attempt to bridge the crowdfunding divide

Ayan Mitra, founder of crowdfunding business CrowdBnk, tells GrowthBusiness about the platform’s ethos and why he thinks social investing could be the solution to start-up and growth company finance.

Online marketplace: iwoca targets retailers operating through Amazon

E-commerce lending platform iwoca attracts Beyond Digital as venture backer

Loan provider iwoca has received capital itself through a funding round led by Beyond Digital.

More from GrowthBusiness

The Entrepreneur

British entrepreneur: Nick Green, founder of printed.com

Video: Nick Green of printed.com on why he started his business

Having first cut his teeth in the business world on the classified telesales desks at The Daily Telegraph, Nick Green set up printed.com in 2011 and has grown it to revenues of £3.9 million.

Growing A Business

Trust issue: News of the World couldn't recover from the phone hacking scandal

Avoiding the pitfalls of Pan Am, Jarvis and the News of the World

The reputation of a business has a strong bearing on how successful it can be and, as BDO partner Nigel Burbidge explains, can be something lost overnight.

Comment & Analysis

Crowdfunding: An arriving and welcome phenomenon

The rise of crowdfunding can only be sustained if we keep the nanny state out.

Research

Source of growth: There are 64 UK-listed cash shells holding £237.9 million

The rise of cash shells

New research from GrowthBusiness shows that the number of UK cash shells is climbing. We speak to new entrants to the market and those that have recently closed deals to find out what’s driving shells’ increasing popularity.